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Exporter Responsibilities (Plants and

Plant Products)

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As an exporter (shipper or agent) of plants or plant products, you are responsible for

taking the following actions:

1. Use the Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking (PCIT) system to

apply for inspection, sampling, testing, and certification of commodities offered for

export. Phytosanitary certificates can be issued at the point of origin, at a port where

the shipment will transit, or at the port of export.

2. Contact an Authorized Certification Official (ACO) as soon as possible. The

ACO will need time to determine the phytosanitary import requirements and sample,

inspect, test, and certify the commodities ahead of shipping or loading dates and

within any time limits specified by the importing country. For help locating an ACO,

please contact the Export Certification Specialist responsible for your State or

county.

Exporters must be aware of and plan for any time limits a foreign country may

specify for the period between the inspection date or certificate issuance date and

the shipping date. If the country does not specify a time limit, inspections should not

be done more than 30 days before export.
3. Provide all necessary documentation, including import permits, bills of

lading, manifests, shipping invoices, foreign phytosanitary certificates, and

inspection certificates. You must also provide official communication stating the

import requirements for your commodities if they differ from those documented in

the Phytosanitary Export Database (PExD). Examples of official communication

include an import permit, special authorization, or recent correspondence from the

National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of the foreign country.

Exporters frequently present letters of credit from their foreign country contacts to

indicate that plant quarantine regulations have changed. Letters of credit are

fiduciary documents and cannot be considered an official communication of plant

quarantine regulation changes or exceptions.

Exporters are responsible for ensuring official communications are translated into

English. APHIS does not provide translation services. Bilingual documents are

acceptable as long as one of the languages is English.

4. Make the commodity available for inspection, sampling, testing, and

certification. It must be accessible to the ACO to verify, sample, and inspect.

Shipments cannot be inspected onboard aircraft or ships. Commodities that are

loaded into maritime containers in bulk form cannot be inspected once the container

has been loaded. The exporter is responsible for arranging to have the consignment

sampled and/or inspected before it is loaded into containers or onto the plane or

ship. Make sure shipping documents are marked or stamped to prevent the

shipment from being loaded before the inspection is conducted.

5. Provide labor to open and close packages for inspection and adequate

facilities to perform the inspection. Such facilities include supplies, equipment,

and proper lighting required for efficient inspection.

6. Provide materials and labor for any required treatments, reconditioning,

or other actions to meet the import requirements of the foreign country.

7. Export only those plants or plant products that have been inspected and

certified under a Federal phytosanitary certificate.

8. Safeguard the certified shipment from infestation between the date the

shipment was sampled and the actual shipping date. Ensure that the certified

shipment departs within the time limits specified by the importing country.
9. Comply with U.S. export control regulations. The Federal government

controls the exportation of U.S. goods to all foreign countries. The Department of

Commerce is the authority for licensing most items for export. Other Federal

agencies such as the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Federal Grain Inspection

Service handle certification for specific products.

More Information

To download a printable copy of this list or to view additional exporter

responsibilities, including the protocol for requesting a certification eligibility review

and options for certifying Canadian produced seed, see Exporter or Shipper

Responsibilities Related to the Export Certification of Plants or Plant Products (57.77

KB).